Home tips to dye jute fabric with vibrant natural colors

The raw jute can be mixed with cotton, viscose and other natural fibers. Mixing jute with other natural fiber gives a sophisticated look. Jute fabric dyed with natural dyeing methods could provide diversified product ranges which come under Eco-Friendly Jute Products. Natural coloring opens a new door to ways of conserving environment. The chemical dye was discovered in 1856 and this led to fading of traditional dyeing. However, natural dyeing is still practiced by some local group in a small scale. Natural Jute coloring is done in three basic steps – washing, mordanting and dyeing.

Washing : The jute fabric should be thoroughly cleaned and dried. Soft water is ideal for washing this natural fabric. Use only natural soap to wash the fabric. Wash repeatedly to ensure the saop has been completely washed out.

Mordanting & Dyeing : After washing, the fabric is now ready for mordanting & dyeing. This two process goes along together.

• The washed fabric is boiled with a mordant then colored in a dye bath.
• The dyed jute fabric is then treated in another mordant bath.
• In third step, the fabric is dyed in dye and mordant in same bath.
• Finally, the fabric is mordanted and then dyed in separate baths and again treated in the same bath.

However some jute fabrics can be dyed directly without mordanting. Mordant is a chemical to fasten the dyes. It prevents the dye from fading when expose to sun or frequent wash. The traditional common mordant is salt. The natural dyes are derived from plant leaves, skin, root, flowers, shell etc.